Means for air conditioning railroad cars



1936, A. E. STACEY, JR.. ET AL 2,059,715

MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 26, 1929 INVENTORS I CL%M \k. BY M g W A ATTORN Y S.

Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNl'lED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING RAILROAD CARS ments, to Carrier Engineering Corporation,

Newark, N. J., a corporation of New York Application December 26, 1929, Serial No. 416,600

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for air conditionlng enclosures, more particularly railroad cars.

The general object of the invention is to provide for the uniform distribution of air throughout the interior of a railroad car whereby equable conditions are produced and maintained throughout the area reserved for passenger accommodation. The conditioning of railway equipment presents conditions not usually encountered in systems used in installations of a non-mobile character. The apparatus is necessarily restricted in size and the operation must be independent of sources outside the car. Thus, for example, the usual supply of water from outside mains or the like is not available, and the system is limited to confined circuits whose liquid content remains the same except for occasional replenishment.

20 Under summer operating conditions the problem of air conditioning a railroad car is primarily one of cooling and dehumidification. Since the apparatus is restricted by the physical limitations of the car structure the conditioning proc- 25 ess is often called upon to create an appreciable differential between the condition existing outside the car and that. of the conditioned air. Of course, when outside conditions are not too extreme, or when it is possible to use a larger area than is ordinarily available for the installation of air conditioning equipment, the air may be tempered and controlled so that the differential between the outside and inside conditions will be comparatively small, as is the case for example, in auditorium systems. Ordinarily, however the equipment in a railroad car, in order to maintain satisfactory conditions, will be called upon to cool and dehumidify the air to such an appreciable degree that the conditioned air would be so different from the air in the car that it would immediately be felt when discharged into the passenger area.

A feature of the invention therefore resides in the provision of means for dissipating and diffusing conditioned air throughout the passenger area of a car, so that no drafts will be created and even distribution effected throughout the area served. In view of the marked difference at times between the conditioned air and that the conditioned air so that its entrance in the car will be unnoticed by the passengers, isaproblem of great difi'iculty and seriousness. Fur- 55 thermore the conventional appearance of a car already in the room, occasionally as great as forty degrees, it is obvious that the dissipation of I and its appointments do not readily lend themselves to changes in car structure without causing conspicuous additions Whose appearance may disturb if not destroy the whole motif of interior design. Applicants therefore have availed themselves of existing car architecture for the provision of distributing and diffusing means, whereby the interior apppearance of the car is preserved and yet efficient distribution attained.

Another feature of the invention resides in the formation and extension of ducts built in the walls of the car or combined with the walls to form integral units therewith.

Other objects and features covering the design, manufacture and installation of distributing and diffusing means and their association with a system for the conditioning of car interiors, will be more apparent from the following description read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a cross-section of a railroad car in diagrammatic form, illustrating the invention.

Fig.2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a car interior illustrating a modified duct and outlet arrangement; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through one of the outlets illustrated in Fig. 1 taken 1ongitudinally of the duct.

Considering the drawing, similar designations referring to similar parts, number 4 refers to a car interior having a top crown portion 5, sides 6 and the usual shoulders I. Ducts 8 are built-in as shown and form extensions to inner walls 9, within the monitor arrangement illustrated. The ducts connect to any suitable conditioner and are used for distributing the conditioned air throughout the car.

In Fig. 2 is shown the interior of a car suitable for dining or club accommodation. In order to meet the scheme of interior decoration duct 80. is designed as a part of the upper structure of the car. This duct may in fact be within the cabinet work or be covered with suitable veneer or other material to resemble cabinet structure integral with the car itself. Outlet openings Ila in the bottom wall of duct 8a are provided at suitable intervals and supply desired quantities of air throughout the car. Diffuser plates 3a are positioned beneath and in combination with the openings so that the air will be dissipated andv equally distributed within the car interior without the creation of drafts or a streaky condition.

Fig. 3 illustrates a vertical section through one of the outlets of Fig. 1, the section being taken longitudinally of the car. The outlet l1 comprises a relatively short conduit extending from the bottom wall 8' of the duct 8. The outlet is preferably rectangular in cross-section. Three sides of the conduit are vertical, but a fourth side, llb extends from the bottom wallof duct 8 at an angle to the vertical. Sloping conduit side l'lb is the leading end of the conduit with respect to the flow of air through the duct 8. Thus, as seen in Fig. 3, air flow through the duct 8 proceeds from right to left, and the sloping side 17b is at the left hand side of the conduit. Thus, the outlet area of the conduit I! is greater than the inlet area, and air passes from the conduit at a lower velocity than it is supplied thereto. Difiuser plate I8 is positioned beneath the outlet end of conduit 51. The air flowing in the direction indicated encounters direction plates l9 whose object is to cause encountered air to flow through the outlets toward the difiuser plate. The direction plates i9 project successively greater distances into the duct. Since the flow of air is comparatively rapid due to the action of fan or impelling means at the conditioner, which is the source of supply, the stream flowing through conduit E'l will be comparatively substantial in volume and speedy in its discharge. The diffuser plate, however, will cause the air to rapid- 1y dissipate itself, as indicated, with the result that it will flow gently and uniformly over the adjacent area, instead of dropping down as would ordinarily be the case with a stream of cold air.

While applicants illustrate ducts of individual and built-in construction of certain character, and also indicate various modes of distributing and diffusing air throughout the car interior, it

should be understood that the views herein considered are merely illustrative, and any analogous means are deemed within the purview of the invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a railroad car a duct, the structure of the car cooperating with the sides of the duct to form an enclosure, one of said sides serving to extend a monitor arrangement in the upper part of the car, openings in the duct for discharging air and means attached to the duct for dissipating the discharged air comprising an extension projecting from the duct, deflecting means within the extension for routing air thereto from the duct, the extension having one end thereof protruding so that the outlet from the extension is larger than the inlet from the duct to the extension, and diffusing means at the outlet.

2. In a duct of the character described, an extension outlet, said outlet projecting from one side of the duct, deflecting means within the outlet and duct for routing air within the extension from the duct, said deflecting means comprising a plurality of deflector plates projecting successively greater distances within the duct, said outlet having one of its sides extending at an angle to the duct, so that the discharge end of the outlet will have one extremity thereof forward of the inlet opening leading from the duct to the outlet, in the direction of air flow through the duct.

ALFRED E. STACEY, JR. CARLYLE M. ASHLEY. H. RICHARD .ARF. 

